Deafening battle cries filled Li Shamao Hutong.

Li Xuan felt as if he had returned to Guyuan, a place of swirling yellow sands that often appeared in his dreams. In those dreams, Hu Junxian repeatedly rode his horse to a halt before him and asked, “Are you willing to serve in my border army?” But in the dream, Li Xuan never answered.

After returning to the capital, he donned new shining silver armor, wore a white pheasant tail headdress, and, under the Honglu Temple officials’ repeated admonitions, walked with great bearing through Chang’an Avenue. This was the scene he had longed for countless times in his youth, but when he truly rode through Chang’an Avenue in splendid attire, he always felt something was off, as if something was missing.

Now, with a spear in hand, enemies before him, and comrades by his side… it felt right. Finally, it felt truly right!

Li Xuan looked at Qi Zhenzhuo and said, “Qi Zhenzhuo, clear the way!”

Qi Zhenzhuo excitedly replied, “Understood! Charge!”

The Imperial Guards charged out of Li Shamao Hutong. Duo Bao swung his iron wolf-brush, sweeping it across, forcing Chen Wenren and his men to retreat repeatedly. Some Imperial Guards who had been vomiting just moments before were unable to dodge and had their faces grazed by the iron wolf-brush, drawing blood.

Chen Wenren gritted his teeth, snatched a spear from a nearby man, and prepared to throw it with all his might. Someone stopped him, saying, “My Lord, a fight is a fight, but we can’t kill anyone. If we kill Qi Zhenzhuo, it will be difficult to explain to the Qi family.”

“Get out of the way! I’ll take responsibility if anything happens!” Chen Wenren broke free from the person’s grasp and threw the spear with all his might.

The spear flew like lightning. Zhou Chong and Zhou Li raised their long, heavy rattan shields, concealing their bodies behind them. The spear pierced through the rattan shield, its tip stopping just an inch from Zhou Chong’s eye. Yet, Zhou Chong calmly straightened himself and pressed forward. The Mandarin Duck Formation was formidable in both offense and defense, almost without weaknesses.

When Chen Wenren had just watched the Mandarin Duck Formation beat up the thugs, he had thought they were foolish, believing it was obvious how to break the formation by doing this, that, and then this. But when he faced the Mandarin Duck Formation himself, he felt he was no different from the thugs. Chen Wenren retreated, observing Duo Bao, Li Cen, Zhou Chong, and Zhou Li before him. Their faces were covered with grey cloth, only their eyes visible, but in those eyes was only calmness and indifference—a gaze strikingly different from that of the Imperial Guards beside him.

Still unconvinced, Chen Wenren immediately roared, “Is there anyone brave?”

No one answered. The Imperial Guards beside him exchanged glances, and someone instinctively took a step back.

Chen Wenren pointed to an Imperial Guard: “Lin Yanchu, we will send you into the formation to disrupt their order from within!”

Lin Yanchu hesitated for two breaths, then replied, “As you command.”

The next moment, two Imperial Guards formed a bridge with their hands, launching Lin Yanchu high into the air as he plunged into the Mandarin Duck Formation. At the rear of the Mandarin Duck Formation, someone shot a beef-tendon slingshot at Lin Yanchu. Lin Yanchu, mid-air, deflected the iron pellet with a flick of his spear and landed lightly within the formation. But after landing inside the formation, he made no attempt to disrupt it. Instead, he simply squatted on the ground, covering his head, allowing the Imperial Guards’ spear shafts to strike him without saying a word.

Chen Ji recognized him as one of the poor scholars he had rescued from the imperial prison. He immediately stopped the others, saying, “Leave him be; keep charging out!”

Seeing that Lin Yanchu hadn’t even made a ripple after entering the Mandarin Duck Formation, Chen Wenren pointed to another man: “Li Guang, you go too!” The Imperial Guards again formed a human bridge and sent Li Guang in. However, once Li Guang charged into the Mandarin Duck Formation, he acted exactly like Lin Yanchu, simply enduring the blows without fighting back.

Chen Wenren’s face darkened. He turned to Wang Fang beside him and said, “Only you can go now. You can definitely tear open this damned ‘hedgehog formation’.”

Wang Fang grabbed his wrist and said in a low voice, “My Lord, let’s go. We can’t win!”

Chen Wenren angrily retorted, “We have eighty men, they only have just over thirty! Why can’t we win? Even if we can’t win, we must fight! I’ve supported you all this time, and now that you’re needed, you’re all shrinking back. Remember, the Wang family cannot dictate to the Chen family. I’ll ask one more time: Are you going or not?”

Wang Fang’s expression changed several times, then he said, “I’ll go.”

With that, Wang Fang stepped on his comrades and leaped towards the Mandarin Duck Formation. But while he was still in the air, Li Xuan roared from within the Mandarin Duck Formation, “Qi Zhenzhuo, stand firm!” Qi Zhenzhuo tensed his body. Li Xuan, holding his spear inverted, stepped onto Qi Zhenzhuo’s shoulder and leaped up, moving to intercept Wang Fang in mid-air. Before the two even made contact, Wang Fang had already lost his nerve. He raised his spear horizontally in front of him, but Li Xuan, still in the air, flicked his spear, sending Wang Fang flying backward.

Qi Zhenzhuo roared, “Excellent!”

Li Xuan plunged into the opposing formation, sweeping his spear horizontally and knocking down many Imperial Guards. He surged toward Chen Wenren like a tidal wave, the Imperial Guards before him parting like the sea.

Chen Wenren retreated in terror, shouting, “Wang Fang, stop him!”

From outside the formation, Qi Zhenzhuo laughed loudly, “Even Yuan Zhen’s personal guard battalion couldn’t stop my brother-in-law; do you think you can? Slay the commander, seize the flag!”

As he spoke, Li Xuan had already reached Chen Wenren and jabbed the butt of his spear into his abdomen. Chen Wenren’s vision suddenly went black, followed by intense pain spreading throughout his body. He slowly knelt to the ground, briefly losing consciousness. When he awoke again, he saw that the Imperial Guards beside him had been completely routed.

A shadow fell over him. Chen Wenren turned his head and saw Qi Zhenzhuo step on his face, treading over it as he continued his charge. Just as Chen Wenren was about to prop himself up, he cursed, “You’re asking for death!” His body was barely two inches off the ground when Duo Bao, raising his ninety-jin iron wolf-brush, stepped on his chest, pinning him back to the ground. Chen Ji and others then stepped over Chen Wenren one after another; even those not directly in his path would detour to step on him. As Chen Ji passed, he stepped down hard, causing Chen Wenren’s head to hit the ground, and he completely blacked out.

At this point, Qi Zhenzhuo no longer needed guidance; he retrieved and thrust his spear with swift, decisive movements.

The young man on the second floor of Chunfeng Yuan withdrew his gaze from the alley and remarked, “This is truly dull. The Imperial Guards certainly live up to their reputation as a ‘playboy army,’ routed so easily. The noble scions of my Ning Dynasty are unfit for great tasks; we still need to select talent from humble backgrounds.”

Zhou Kuang considered for a moment, then said, “Master, there are also formidable individuals among the noble scions: Hu Junxian of the Guyuan border army, Yang Yang of the Ten Thousand Year Army, the eldest son of the Qi family, and the eldest son of the Chen family’s second branch are all impressive figures. Once these individuals become truly powerful, with favorable timing, geographical advantage, popular support, their own innate talent, and the backing of aristocratic resources, they are truly unmatched by those from humble backgrounds.”

The young man sighed deeply. “But they won’t serve me,” he said. There seemed to be a deeper meaning in that remark, and Zhou Kuang dared not respond.

The young man smiled and changed the subject. “Tell me,” he said, “is the difference truly that significant between these Imperial Guards who haven’t experienced battle and those who have?”

“Master, the saying ‘one veteran soldier is worth four new recruits’ is no exaggeration; it’s an unspoken understanding among commanding generals,” Zhou Kuang recalled. “When I first went out of Chongli Pass, my legs were trembling. When I killed the first person, I cut open his belly, and his intestines spilled onto the ground. That day, I vomited intermittently for two hours. At night, I dreamt of those intestines all over the ground, and I vomited again upon waking. Before going to battle, all I thought about was achieving glory, but when I saw so much blood, I was scared out of my wits. I just wanted to find a place to hide, or smear some blood on my face and wait for the battle to end.”

The young man said with interest, “Even the man who stands supreme among the Five Military Camps has moments of fear?”

Zhou Kuang sat on a small chair, staring at the small red clay stove in front of him, and said with a self-deprecating laugh, “Of course I was afraid. How could anyone not be? A ground covered in blood, heads, and severed limbs—anyone would be afraid. Who is a born killer?”

The young man asked, “So, did you hide?”

Zhou Kuang laughed heartily. “I wanted to hide, but there was nowhere to hide. Anyone who has truly been on a battlefield understands one truth: Hiding is useless; you can only survive if you are fiercer than your opponent.” Zhou Kuang grinned. “Later, in the winter of the 25th year of Jianing, my hands were almost frozen while fighting on the battlefield. I killed an enemy, cut open his belly, and warmed my hands by clutching his intestines. It was truly warm. While I was warming myself, a new recruit from the Jing Dynasty, who had charged to the front, saw me. I looked up and smiled, and he was scared out of his wits.”

The young man chuckled and cursed, “That’s utterly disgusting.”

When the young man turned his head again, he saw that Chen Ji and his men had already cut through the Imperial Guards brought by Chen Wenren and reached the entrance of Li Shamao Hutong. He stood up and stretched. “Boring,” he sighed. “I thought I’d see a life-or-death battle, but not only did we lose two attending officials, the opponent was also so uninteresting.”

Zhou Kuang instructed someone outside the door, “Someone, pack up our things; we’re preparing to return to the manor.” Two men entered from outside. They casually picked up hot coals from the stove with their bare hands and extinguished them by rubbing them. They skillfully packed the small stove and tea set into a box and carried it away.

The young man leaned against the window frame, quietly watching Chen Ji and his men fight their way out. Just as the men stood up to leave, he suddenly spoke, “Wait, don’t leave yet! Come back, come back, the good show isn’t over yet!”

Zhou Kuang couldn’t help but walk to the window and lean out to look, his pupils suddenly contracting.

In the alley, the Imperial Guards fought their way out back-to-back, with blockades in front and pursuers behind. Everyone was breathing heavily, feeling their weapons grow heavier in their hands and their feet become heavier. More and more thugs rushed out from the brothel’s courtyard, trying to break through the linked ends of the Mandarin Duck Formation. They struck again and again like ocean waves, relentlessly.

But the Imperial Guards blocking the way, now without Chen Wenren, and his own Imperial Guards no longer willing to fight to the death, collapsed like a landslide. Wang Fang led his Imperial Guards, fighting as they retreated, refusing to surrender outright merely to save face. As the fighting continued and Qi Zhenzhuo stabbed another man down, he suddenly realized that the front was empty, only the empty entrance of the alley remaining.

Qi Zhenzhuo looked back blankly. “Master,” he said, “there’s no one in front anymore.”

Chen Ji also froze. He looked back and saw only the Imperial Guards groaning and wailing on the ground. Wang Fang, at some point, had climbed the wall and slipped to the rear, picking up Chen Wenren and leaving, without a care for what would happen to the remaining Imperial Guards in the alley.

Duo Bao leaned on his iron wolf-brush, breathing heavily. “We cut through?” he asked.

“We cut through.”

The Imperial Guards rushed out of Li Shamao Hutong, their vision suddenly widening. The cool night breeze brushed their faces, dispelling some of the heat. The thugs from Heji stopped at the alley entrance, seemingly unwilling to pursue them out of the alley. Further ahead was Zhengyang Gate Street, the central official thoroughfare, patrolled at night by the Five City Military Divisions.

Duo Bao stood not far from the alley entrance, leaning on his iron wolf-brush and laughing loudly, “Go on, keep chasing!”

The thugs in the alley pointed their axes at him and cursed angrily, “If you’re so brave, come back here!”

Amidst the curses, the group outside the alley was breathing heavily, sweat soaking their face coverings and clothes. Everyone was exhausted, but the Imperial Guards looked at each other and saw expressions of joy in each other’s eyes.

Someone said in a low voice, “It’s been so long since I’ve felt this exhilarated.”

Another, still unsatisfied, added, “We shouldn’t stay in the Imperial Guards and be treated like monkeys. We should go to the Ten Thousand Year Army, the Divine Machine Camp, the Five Military Camps, or the Guyuan border army.”

Someone spiritedly declared, “While pampered youths play cockfighting at Zhangtai, we should naturally go against them and march our armies north!”

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Li Xuan slapped the back of the man’s head, pouring a basin of cold water on his enthusiasm. “You beat up a few street thugs and hit a few spoiled brats, and now you think you’re hot stuff? And shouting so loudly, aren’t you ashamed? Hurry up and go!”

Duo Bao dragged his iron wolf-brush, then turned to Li Xuan. “My Lord,” he asked, “do you want to go back to Guyuan?”

Li Xuan was silent for a moment. “No,” he replied. “Less talk. Tomorrow, each of you will write a reflection, summarizing the gains and losses of today’s formation. We still have many areas where we can improve.”

No sooner had he spoken than the group heard a spear striking the ground nearby. They all turned to look and saw Chen Ji standing behind them, his eyes bright and piercing. “We’re not leaving,” he declared.

Li Xuan raised an eyebrow. “Hm?”

Chen Ji pointed to the thugs in the alley. “Charge back in!” he commanded. Duo Bao, Qi Zhenzhuo, and the others froze. After fighting their way out with such difficulty, why were they to go back in?

Chen Ji pointed to the thugs. “They’re just a bunch of weaklings,” he scoffed. “Charge back in.”

Qi Zhenzhuo hesitated. “Master,” he said, “there are many of them.”

Chen Ji smiled. “What if there are many?” he retorted. “You’re the only one who says discouraging things! Everyone looks down on you, and you’re the one who always disappoints. You saw it yourself just now: there aren’t that many difficult things in this world; it just depends on whether you dare.”

Li Xuan tried to persuade him, “It was already difficult to break out today. It won’t be too late to return after we’ve studied the formation’s flaws and weaknesses tomorrow.”

Chen Ji patted Li Xuan’s shoulder. “Tomorrow and tomorrow, how many tomorrows are there?” he said. “Lord Li, cast off your shackles. The chains on you must weigh three thousand jin.” With that, he turned and shouted to the second floor of Li Shamao Hutong, “Spectators upstairs, who has a sword? Lend it to me!”

The young man upstairs laughed loudly. “I’ll lend it to you,” he called. “Someone, give him a sword!”

With a clang, someone in the room drew a sword from its scabbard and threw it across the air. It landed with a thud, sticking in the ground in front of Chen Ji. Chen Ji pulled out the sword, turned, and handed it to Li Xuan. “Here,” he said, “use the weapon you’re most adept with.” Li Xuan silently took the sword.

Chen Ji looked at the thugs in Li Shamao Hutong. “Oh, right,” he said, “how did the Guyuan border army chant their battle cry? Who remembers the full version?”

Duo Bao raised his iron wolf-brush again and said in a deep voice, “Don the armor! Wield the halberd! Guard the border!”

Li Xuan muttered to himself in a low voice, “Enemy raiders, heads, drink blood…”

Then Chen Ji’s hands trembled, and the spear in his hands emitted a terrifying hum. “Kill!” he roared.

The Imperial Guards reformed their formation and charged back into Li Shamao Hutong.